


Leave Me Breathless

by Miko



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-18
Updated: 2011-07-18
Packaged: 2017-10-21 12:25:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/225149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miko/pseuds/Miko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Eridan finally gets the better of him, it literally leaves Sollux breathless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leave Me Breathless

Sollux didn't realize he was dreaming until he hit the water with a splash, and felt it close over his head. Panicked, he thrashed and flailed, struggling to reach the surface again, hoping there actually _was_ a surface to reach. This had to be someone's dream bubble, because there was no water on the asteroid that he knew about - but when had he fallen asleep? Had he been knocked out again?

What would happen to him if he died in a dream, now that their dreamselves were all dead? Would he just wake up, or would he vanish forever into the void?

He managed to reach the air for just a moment, long enough to gasp helplessly for fresh oxygen, before the weight of his sodden clothes pulled him under again. He couldn't swim, he'd never bothered to learn how; not only was he thoroughly a city troll, but with his telekinetic ability he would never have needed to worry about drowning, since he could just lift himself clear of the water.

Only he'd lost his psionics along with his vision, and now he very definitely needed to worry about drowning. Worse, there could be dry land two feet away from him and he would never even know it was there, unable to see or sense it.

He managed to kick his shoes off, which helped a little, and grimly fought his way back up again. At least, he hoped it was up. If he'd gotten turned around underwater, he might be fighting his way _down_ for all he knew.

Just as his lungs were starting to ache badly with the need for air, arms wrapped tightly around his chest and pulled him sideways. He felt strong legs kicking through the water behind him, occasionally striking his, and he did his best to just stay out of his rescuer's way.

They broke through to the surface, and he inhaled just a moment too soon and ended up choking on the salt spray. Coughing and flailing weakly, he sucked in greedy lungfuls of air, nearly hyperventilating in the attempt to reintroduce oxygen to his system.

"Ff?" he croaked, turning his head even though he knew the gesture was futile. He wouldn't be able to see whoever was behind him, but surely this had to be her bubble. Who else among his dead companions would have a bubble full of water?

"You wwish, peasant."

The words were cold, as cold as Sollux's blood ran upon hearing them. He thrashed again, trying to get away from the troll who had blinded him and killed half of his friends, including the girl both of them had wanted as a matesprit.

Eridan snorted with something that sounded like contempt, and released him. Immediately Sollux realized his error, because without the support he promptly sank below the surface once more. His flailing hand connected with Eridan's body, and he clutched at the aquatic troll's shirt like the lifeline it was, trying to pull himself back up to the surface.

After a long moment Eridan grabbed him under the arms and lifted him again, bringing him up so they were face to face again. Sollux coughed and gasped for air once more.

"That wwas upright idiotic, Sol," Eridan said. Sollux didn't need to be able to see the sneer on his face; he could picture it quite clearly from the disparaging tone of his voice. "Fuck, I knoww you're a lowwblood and all, but wwatchin you try to swwim is pretty damn laughable."

"Shit," Sollux cursed, the word heartfelt. He was trapped and thoroughly helpless, completely dependent on Eridan's mercy - and relying on the mercy of someone who considered himself your kismesis was never a good idea. Even though they'd never consummated the relationship, even though Sollux had never _agreed_ to it, since he felt nothing but contempt for the other troll, it still meant Eridan hated him enough not to feel pity for him.

"Not so fulla yourself noww, are you?" Eridan taunted him. "You alwways looked dowwn on me... on _me_ , wwhen I'm upright royalty and you ain't nothin but a filthy mustard-blood. Looks like the tide has turned. Wwhat'vve you got to say for yourself noww, huh?"

Still clinging to the other troll to help him stay above water, Sollux rapidly considered his options. He wasn't above begging, not to save his own life, but the last thing he wanted was to end up looking pathetic. Eridan would _never_ feel pity for him, of that much he was certain, so hatred would turn to contempt instead if he believed Sollux was too far below him now.

And nobody would help someone they actively scorned. At best, Eridan would leave him to die. At worst, he'd kill Sollux himself, just to show his superiority.

All he could do was try to flame the fans of hatred, and hope that Eridan valued having a kismesis enough not to kill him outright. At the moment, it wasn't exactly difficult to feign hatred for the troll who'd been a thorn in his side since the start of the game. It was hard to feel disparaging when Eridan was suddenly the one with all the power.

"I'd say it looks like you got what was coming to you, if this is your bubble," Sollux said with a sneer of his own. "You're dead, and I'm just dreaming. If I die here, I'll just wake up, but you'll never leave again." He had no idea if that was true, of course, but neither did Eridan.

"Oh yeah? Then wwhy are you floundering evvery time you go under?" Eridan taunted him, and put his hands on Sollux's shoulders. Before Sollux could realize what he intended, Eridan had pushed him away and down, forcing his head beneath the waves once more.

Caught unprepared, Sollux didn't have a chance to get a deep breath, and his lungs started aching immediately. He flailed and scrabbled at Eridan, trying to pull himself up, but even when he got his head above the level where Eridan's must be, there was still no air. Horrified, he realized Eridan had taken them _both_ under.

Then Eridan kicked strongly, and they broke through to the air. Sollux was growing dizzy with the repeated lack of oxygen, which made him feel bizarrely giddy about the whole thing.

"Reflex," Sollux gasped the moment he could speak, knowing that he couldn't show even a hint of weakness. "Just because I know I won't die doesn't mean my subconscious does."

"You might as wwell givve up and admit I'vve got the best of you, Sol," Eridan said with a low chuckle. "Just like I got the best of you in our last fight. You takin me seriously yet?"

"Yeah," Sollux growled in reply, and he was startled to realize that he wasn't feigning a damned thing. He hated the fact that he'd gone from being one of the most powerful trolls to being fucking helpless, dependent on his potential _kismesis_ to stay alive. He hated Eridan for putting him in this situation, for rescuing him just so he could rub Sollux's nub in the fact that Eridan was stronger than him now. "Yeah, I'm taking you seriously, ed. Guess you finally measured up to something that might be worth being my rival, after all."

He thought he heard a sharp intake of breath at that, like he'd startled Eridan, though he didn't know why. Wasn't that exactly what the other troll had wanted him to say for weeks?

"It's about fuckin time," Eridan said, and there might have been a note of pleasure beneath the rough anger that was always in his voice when he talked to Sollux. "I thought I wwas gonna have to outright kill you before you'd admit I'm superior to you."

"Excuse me? Who said anything about you being superior?" Sollux snorted. "I said you _might_ be worth considering as a rival. Barely."

This time he expected it, so he managed to get a deep breath before Eridan shoved him under. He tried not to struggle, knowing that movement only used up his air faster and gave Eridan far too much satisfaction. But the moments ticked by without Eridan showing any sign of bringing him back up, and finally the need to breathe grew too urgent and Sollux couldn't stop himself from flailing for the surface.

Eridan was laughing at him when he hit the air again. "Tryin to outwwait me, Sol? Not gonna happen. I'm havving wway too much fun watching you drowwn."

He pushed Sollux again - _away_ this time, removing contact between them completely, and Sollux choked as he fought to stay above water. He had no idea how far Eridan had gone; he might be mere inches away, or he might have left entirely.

He was getting a little better at treading water, but his sodden clothes were still pulling him down. Taking as deep a breath as he could, Sollux reluctantly allowed himself to go under long enough for him to pull his shirt up over his head and discard it. Unfortunately he discovered after he'd done so that he'd managed to disorient himself again, and was no longer sure where the surface was.

This time Eridan caught him and brought him up before he'd even really started panicking, to Sollux's shock. He realized why when the other troll practically chirped into his ear, "Wwhy, Sol, if you wwere that eager to get naked wwith me, all you hadda do wwas ask."

"I wasn't," Sollux growled, but his words cut off in a gasp as Eridan's hands dropped to his fly. He squirmed, part of him desperate to throw Eridan off but the rest of him aware that doing so would mean drowning again.

The thought of anyone discovering how far his mutations truly went had always terrified him; it was why he'd held Feferi at bay, and why he'd never consummated his previous matespritship with Aradia. He'd known that someday he would have to reveal himself, but he'd expected to have time to take it slow and explain first, so his matesprit wasn't shocked.

And, honestly, he'd assumed that he would be in the dominant position when he had to reveal it to a kismesis. He'd sort of planned to rub their face in it, taunt them with the fact that their kismesis was a freak and there was nothing they could do to stop him from taking them anyway. This was not at all how he'd pictured things going.

He knew the exact moment when Eridan realized the truth, because the other troll went still with shock and they both submerged again. Thankfully he immediately brought them up again, but Sollux had to fight not to cringe away from the possible reactions. Eridan held all the power at the moment, and if he was disgusted there was nothing Sollux could do to stop him from pulling away.

After a long, painful moment, Eridan started laughing. "Fuck, you really are upright freakish, aren't you?" he said, sounding amazed and almost pleased.

Laughter was a better reaction than disgust, at least for the purposes of Sollux's continued survival, but that didn't mean he liked it. He hated to be laughed at and made fun of, and right now it was making hatred fizz and pop in his veins like something had set his blood to 'boil'.

"Fuck you," he snarled, and slammed his head into Eridan's face as hard as he could. He wasn't sure how good his aim was, but it must have been good enough because Eridan yelped in pain and released him.

This time Sollux didn't just tread water; he started swimming as best he could. Surely there had to be land _somewhere_ , considering Eridan had spent most of his life out of the water. If he could just manage to keep going straight, somehow, maybe he could reach it. That would put them on slightly more even footing, even if he didn't have his powers and couldn't see.

Hands wrapped around his ankles and yanked before he could so much as draw a startled breath. Worse, Eridan's pull hadn't been straight down, and he ended up tumbling in the water until he had no idea which way was up. The other troll had withdrawn the moment Sollux was underwater, so he didn't even have that point of reference to help him.

Then Eridan was back, pressed against him chest to chest, their legs tangling as Eridan kissed him fiercely. Sollux bit him and tasted blood, but he felt the vibration of Eridan's laughter against his chest. The other troll went for his jeans again, and this time succeeded in pulling them down over Sollux's hips.

That was when Sollux discovered that Eridan had also shed his own clothing at some point, because when he clutched at Eridan's body he felt the soft flutter of skin against his hands between the aquatic troll's ribs. His gills, Sollux realized, and wondered if he could do something to damage them or force them closed so that Eridan would _have_ to surface.

He hesitated, not sure he really wanted to go that far - what if he _seriously_ hurt Eridan, or angered him into abandoning him? Hatred between kismesis was a delicate balance, and if he went too far he could easily push things into killing rage instead of romantic hate.

He felt Eridan relax against him slightly, and the next moment the other troll propelled them back up to the air again. As he gasped and wheezed and fought off dizziness, Sollux wondered if he'd just passed some kind of test. Eridan _had_ been worried that Sollux would hurt him, judging by that release of tension.

"Breathe," Eridan said, with an edge to his voice that made it clear the word was a command and not a suggestion. Sollux would have widened his eyes if he'd still had them to widen, and obeyed despite himself. Nerves and repeated near-drowning made him breathe far faster than he normally would, until he was a short step from hyperventilating instead. "Good little wworm. Noww take a deep breath - it's the last one you'll havve for a wwhile."

Sollux nearly protested, but that same edge to Eridan's voice warned him that if he did, he'd only be wasting the air he could have been gulping down instead. So he did just that, breathing in so deeply his lungs were protesting for an entirely different reason.

Just in time, before Eridan tangled their legs together and they went under again. Sollux realized why when he felt Eridan's bulge sliding over the double humps of bone that protected his. Eridan wouldn't be able to swim and hold them in position for sex at the same time, and it was clear which one he'd decided was more important. Frantic, Sollux wrapped his legs around Eridan's waist, opening himself completely and urging Eridan closer with his hands. Not so much because he was desperate for the sex, though he was a little shamed to realize just how fast his bulges were working their way out of the protective sheathes, but because he knew he had minutes at best before his air would run out, and he wasn't at all sure Eridan would bring them up again before the aquatic troll had gotten off.

He had to bite down hard on the instinct to keen when Eridan's bulge found his nook and pressed inside him. As bad as he wanted to, making any kind of noise would probably be the literal death of him. He bit his lip until he tasted blood as one of his bulges found its way into Eridan in turn, the other stroking and curling around the base of Eridan's bulge.

Eridan had no such restrictions on using up his air, of course. The water distorted the sound, but Sollux could hear what had to be chirps and warbles as Eridan ground their hips together with increasingly urgent motions. He clutched at Eridan's shoulders hard enough to draw blood and moved against him as well, torn between panic as his lungs began to protest and the need for relief from the pressure of built-up genetic material.

He strained for release, hoping that if he came as quickly as possible Eridan would be pushed into breaking as well. Unfortunately the rapidly increasing terror of drowning was interfering with his pleasure, making it harder to get off than it otherwise would have been. The ache in his lungs was growing faster than the ache in his groin, and it was obvious which reflex was going to win out.

The first few bubbles of air escaped him before he managed to clamp his windtube closed again. Nearly hysterical, Sollux clawed at Eridan's arms where they were wrapped around his torso, trying to get free.

Warm lips trailed over his, soft for a moment before Eridan bit his bottom lip and tugged on it. Sollux opened his mouth, figuring he might as well drown in Eridan if he was going to drown. Maybe if he appeased Eridan enough by submitting, the other troll would take him to the surface again.

To his shock and dismay, the moment their lips were sealed Eridan _punched him in the stomach_ , startling him into releasing the rest of the air that was trapped in his lungs. Sollux panicked outright, flailing, and nearly managed to tear his mouth away before he realized that Eridan was breathing _into_ his mouth, giving him the air he needed to survive just another few moments.

It took effort to inhale without getting water through his cartilage nub as well, but somehow he managed it. His lungs still hurt, his body trying to convince him that he needed to keep gasping for more oxygen, and he knew the respite would be only momentary.

Everything felt a little unreal as the dizziness swept over him, disconnecting him from reality and leaving him half fainting. Eridan broke the kiss, and Sollux desperately sought his lips again, hoping for another life-giving breath, but his kismesis was having none of it. The other troll bit his throat instead, sharp teeth sinking into the flesh.

Despite himself, Sollux gasped in reaction, and flailed weakly as water rushed into his lungs. It stung going down, salty liquid irritating the sensitive flesh of his windtube, and it did nothing to relieve the need for oxygen. He was no aquatic troll, with gills to let him absorb the oxygen from water and flush it back out of his system.

Bright lights were bursting before his eyes despite his burned out vision, and still Eridan showed no signs of bringing them up again. The other troll was arching into Sollux's grip on him, and the water around them grew fractionally warmer as violet genetic material mingled with it.

Too late Sollux realized he'd been more thorough than he should have been in convincing Eridan that he was in no real danger if he died in his dream. His hands slipped off Eridan's shoulders as he grew too weak to maintain his grip - and, like a twisted sort of compensation for dying, in his last moments of awareness he felt the sharp spike of pleasure as he finally reached orgasm.

Abruptly he found himself gasping and convulsing on a hard metal floor, precious air flowing in and out of his lungs with not even a hint of salt water. He was still dizzy, probably because he'd been holding his breath in reality as well, he realized giddily. Karkat was shaking his shoulder, calling his name urgently, but Sollux couldn't collect himself enough to answer his friend.

So he was still alive after all. To his dismay Sollux realized that not only was he now hyperventilating, his pants were sodden and sticky against his legs. What happened to the dream body happened in reality, apparently, at least to a point, and he'd soaked himself in his own genetic material.

"I'm fine," he managed, shrugging to throw Karkat's insistent hand off him. A moment's thought switched his clothes out for another set stored in his captchalog, thankfully before Karkat could realize what had happened to him. He'd find an excuse for why he suddenly had a desire to be wearing one of his levelled-up outfits. As soon as his brain started working properly again.

And he was going to _kill_ Eridan the next time he fell asleep, he promised himself grimly. He'd never hated anyone more than he hated the aquatic troll in that moment. He'd find some way of besting the grubfucker despite his disadvantages in the water, no matter what it took.

It was going to be the best and most rewarding challenge of his life.


End file.
